BMW Purchasing Director to be the new head of Audi
Audi gets a new Purchasing Director
The purchasing director at BMW, Markus Duesmann is being lined up by the Volkswagen group to head its Audi premium brand.
According to certain inside sources, the group plan to place Duesmann at the helm as Audi CEO on January 1, 2019
Markus Duesmann is an engine development expert and if he does get the top job at Audi, it will be the second high-profile defection from BMW to VW Group following the departure of Herbert Diess in 2015 to become head of the VW brand. Subsequently, Diess took over as CEO of VW Group in April.
Duesmann, 49, will become a member of the board "as soon as he is able to do so," according to a VW Group statement this week.
Even though it is rumoured that Duesmann will be CEO of Audi, the VW group did not actually define Duesmann's role with Audi but German newspaper Handelsblatt said VW wanted Duesmann to fill the post of Audi CEO following the arrest of former boss Rupert Stadler.
It's not determined yet when he will leave BMW as his contract with the rival luxury car brand expires in autumn next year. The contract seemingly includes a clause that prevents him from immediately joining a rival.
The former head of Audi, Stadler was arrested in mid-June over allegations that he tried to tamper with evidence in the diesel-cheating scandal. After the arrest, Audi named its sales chief, Bram Schot, as an interim replacement. Schot was considered a long shot to permanently lead Audi because he lacks an engineering background. As would be the normal presumption, Volkswagen and Audi have said that Stadler is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise.
At this Audi is the world’s third-largest luxury brand but has lost ground to their other German rivals, BMW and Mercedes-Benz in recent years.
Duesmann, who is a mechanical engineer, joined BMW in 2007 after moving away from Mercedes-Benz, where he was head of Formula One powertrain. He became purchasing chief, a role previously filled by Diess, in 2016.
With Duesmann’s hiring, Diess is pushing ahead with a revamp of the management ranks. To speed up decision-making and make the German giant more nimble, the initiative includes hiring more external executives at a company that has been dominated for years by home-grown managers. 
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